Saturday, June 16, 2012

Meet Fellow Citizens

New Haven is a bike-friendly city with a condensed downtown. Families can bike to work or to school, as in the case of Sara and Peter and their three kids. They're part of several families who commute via bicycle to their school, Cold Spring.

Nhv.Org spoke to Sara and took the commute with her, Peter, and their kids. This is what Sara had to say:

Compared to driving?
"From us to ride from Edgewood to Fair Haven, it's 20-25 minutes, so really there is very little differential if you drove regularly, partially because there are red lights and such." Drivers pass you in a huff and then you end up riding right next to them at a red light, and you're stopped just as they are."

How do you feel about the safety of riding bicycles to commute during rush hour?
"Many people were supportive but people talked about it, and there was worry that it wasn't safe or something. But three years later, we've seen a real growth. A few weeks ago, we did our own little 'bike to school' day, and the truth is there are families at our school that can't because they live elsewhere, on the shoreline. We had 12 families do it, and that's great, that's local."

What about the kids riding versus being passengers?
"When we started, the older boys were 6 and we could haul all 3 of them on one bike! We knew that as the boys got older, the capacity to ride them changed. They're actually really proficient on their own bikes, and that's the question of safety. They can ride great themselves, and people think, 'why would you still be hauling your kids on a cargo bike?' They can ride often for recreation, but not always for transportation. We're just trying to make that move right now."